Daily experiences of human (in-)securities: a case of migrant women in neighbourhood workshop in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

A neighbourhood workshop in Thailand is an informal enterprise that usually offers low-skilled jobs. While most Thai people have left such jobs in search of better or more profitable work, migrant women from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (also referred to as CLM countries) have since moved in to fill this vacuum. Using the concept of human security, this paper investigates how lack of state and social support generates vulnerabilities for migrant women and how they overcome these vulnerabilities in their daily lives. The findings of this paper are based on in-depth interviews of 13 women and four men from CLM countries in Bang Bon district and Klong Luang in Thailand. The interviews, conducted between January and September 2014, reveal that (1) irregular status of migration causes legal, economic, and environmental/health insecurities, (2) very limited protection is available to the migrants, with better-than-nothing protection coming their employers in an ad hoc and unguaranteed manner; yet their relationship is natured by exploitation, (3) their current sense of insecurity is partially offset by their context, i.e. the improved sense of security when compared with their prior individual experiences.

Keywords:

• Gender
• human security experiences
• migrant women
• informal enterprise
• garment industry
• Thailand

Notes

Acknowledgments

This paper was originally written for the KPICGS/KANITA postgraduate conference 2014. The author thanks all the respondents, key informants, interpreters and editors, including Ms Kanokphan Jongjarb, Dr Su Su Yin, Ms Vilasinee Sukhga, Mr Manop Kaewthaka, Ms Van Trang Le Hoang, Mr Kelvin Lynn, Ms Narachara Patsing and Ms Veena N. A special note of gratitude to Professor Kyoko Kusakabe, Dr Philippe Doneys and Dr Donna L. Doane.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Since 2007, medical service has become free of charge in Thailand. This scheme covers as much as 95.7% of the population (Chen, 2014; Namsomboon & Kusakabe, 2011). Irregular migrant workers, however, are not entitled to universal healthcare service.

2 Among Burmese migrant labourers, work permit is known as ‘pink card’. This is because the work permit application form was pink. According to MAP Foundation, from 15 July 2009, Burmese migrants have become entitled to a 3-year “temporary passport” from Myanmar after verification of their nationality, and to a visa and work permit in Thailand for a period of two years, with a possibility for another two-year renewal. To be eligible, migrants have to pay 600 baht for health examination and 1300 baht for 1 year health insurance (MAP Foundation, 2013).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shinobu Sasaki

Shinobu Sasaki, PhD, is an independent researcher and works on gender parity issues in an inter-governmental organization. Her interests include strategic gender issues, feminization of informal economy, human security, and South East Asia.